I actually wanted my post on why New Hampshire is not like New Mexico to be focused on the following set of reasons, but I didn’t have time to write about it then, so I just posted pictures.
I can wait no longer– everyday I am shocked just a little bit more. Don’t get me wrong, I dislike the politics associated with “being green,” but Roswell is just a little hostile about it and needs to grow up.
Why Roswell is not like Hanover:
1. Transportation
The day I got my haircut, I realized just how non-walking friendly the layout of this city is. There is NOTHING within a mile’s radius of my house that I can or would want to walk to, except the tennis courts (which are 1 mile away. The end of the radius!) The reason I realized this was because I decided to walk to the hair salon because it didn’t seem THAT far away and the weather in Roswell is actually conducive to walking outdoors (HELLO ROSWELLITES: People in Hanover walk places even when it’s LITERALLY FREEZING). Well, I panicked when I was only halfway to the salon 15 minutes after leaving my house because I didn’t want to be late for the appointment I’d already rescheduled, so I had to run down the street in jeans and boots with my purse swinging everywhere, crossing a scary intersection, and arriving sweaty and out of breath to my appointment.
Unlike Hanover, I cannot walk to the gym, the library, the restuarants (with the exception of a Subway), the coffe shops (ahem, singluar “shop” aka starbucks), a grocery store, nothin. Okay, maybe that’s just a product of where I live.
How about biking? No. If people attempt to bike on the road (the first 18 years of my life, I thought bikers were SUPPOSED to bike on pedestrain walkways), the odds are good that they’ll be run over.
Public transportation? I thought the bus system went bankrupt, but there may be one that still runs per day. And by one, I mean a literal one bus. That’s it for public transportation.
Think that’s bad? One time, given our different post-church schedules, each member of my family took a different vehicle to church. This is not uncommon for the citizens of Roswell (both multiple vehicular transport to the same location, and also going to church).
When I was in Ruidoso, this girl said she was going to drive to sonic to get a drink if anyone wanted to come. (I didn’t) But when I exited the salon, I saw that sonic was next door. Not a couple buildings down, not even across the street. NEXT DOOR.
2. Recycling
My next beef is with recycling. There’s not much to say other than Roswell only recycles newspaper and plastic, and you have to drive to the edge of town to drop it off yourself. The idea of someone coming to COLLECT recyclables is just unthinkable. The fact that we don’t recyle glass, to me, is unthinkable.
I remember the first time I habitually flattened the cardboard box that my waffles came in and crushed my empty chocolate milk carton at home, and then I realized…huh. I have no where to put this except the garbage. I had a small anxiety attack over it.
3. BYOB-Bring Your Own Bag
Then there’s the grocery shopping experience. I brought my own bag to Lawrence Brothers grocery store and the checker gave me grief! It was like, “Oh, so you’re one of THOSE people.” It was like I had to apologize for the inconvenience of making him use my one bag instead of 8 plastic ones. I said I was just doing my part to try to conserve the planet. He said, “Well, I’m gonna die eventually and then it’s not my problem!” Great attitude, sir. “What about your kids?” I don’t remember what he said, but it was more or less, “Oh, well. Screw ’em.”
A lot of times I forget to bring in my own bag, not that it’s well-received anyway, but since I’m only getting one or two things, I try to tell the cashier I don’t need a bag. Well HEAVEN FORBID one time I was late in saying, “I don’t need a bag” after she’d already bagged it, and I thought I was going to be forcefully removed from the store. The checker glared at me as though I’d just asked her to spit shine my shoe. She angrily de-bagged my item(s), and when I apologized AGAIN, she literally huffed. Like a dragon.
Another time I did the whole “I don’t need a bag” thing WAYYYY before the bagging process, so the cashier didn’t bag my items. But the bagger did. And then another bagger walked by and saw my two items just sitting there and bagged them. Then another. THREE PEOPLE TRIED TO BAG MY STUFF. Each time, the cashier was like, no don’t bag it. She doesn’t want it bagged, and each of the three people looked at me like I had two heads growing out of my neck, one of which was disfigured.
So I was at Hastings the other night renting a movie, just one movie, and the girl put it in a bag before I could tell her I didn’t need one. I could tell that she might throw the DVD at my face if I told her I didn’t need the bag, so I just took it. And it was possibly the heaviest bag I’ve ever carried.
They Call Me Fushilou 
There are 2 coffee shops! And more than one bus. The company that built busses went out of business. I am Not surprised by your experience at Lawrence Brothers. That place is ghetto. The problems, I have discovered, are with roswellians. People suck.
I wonder if there is a way to encourage roswellians to become more environmentally conscientious. The only way they’d do it is probably if you gave them money. Sad.
This is going to sound strange but after reading this and other blog entries I actually have an urge to visit Roswell…..It seems like it is a coolish place.
So this was my experience at wal-mart. I would rather go to farmers for my stuff but i live right near wally and i was in need of some alcohol, and farmers doesnt have that. ANYWAYS, two bottles of wine equals 5 plastic bags, no joke, that shit went down. and i told her no but she didnt me or whatever, and i dug out the bottles myself. case number 2, circle K, got something and they started to bag it and i told them no, so they didnt, but threw the bag away anyway..what!?
well, perhaps we can give some of these muscle heads the benefit of the doubt, and say that they are leaving the gym, and roll through the drive thru on their way home?